Deep Shadows
by Kalia522
Summary: A new pony arrives in Ponyville and makes fast friends with our group of heroines. Despite her good-natured front, the young mare appears to be hiding something; when a familiar amulet suddenly goes missing, Twilight and her friends must uncover a sinister plot at the heart of Equestria - before it is too late!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own MLP**

* * *

Chapter 1:

"TWILIGHT!"  
The purple pony's head shot up in alarm, her copy of _Aptitude, Belief, Commitment: The ABC's of the Cutie Mark_ flying across the room as a panicked voice caught her attention. She leapt to her hooves, knocking over another stack of books positioned by her reading chair, as she galloped to the door.

"Twilight!"

The voice was closer now, approaching from the center of town. Twilight Sparkle flung open the door, calling to her oldest friend as she did so.

"Spike! Something's happened. I'll be right back. You're in charge!"

A small purple and green head appeared from the kitchen doorway. "Aww…" the baby dragon protested. "But, Twilight, I was just about to finish our lunch. You said we could eat it outside since it's so nice."

"Sorry Spike," the pony said. "Duty calls." Twilight disappeared out the door, only to return a moment later. "Rain check on that lunch." The image of the small dragon's smiling face remained with her as the unicorn – now alicorn – rushed outside in search of the pony in trouble.

"Twilight! Twilight! TWILIGHT!"

A pink hurricane came out of nowhere, almost knocking Twilight to the ground. The alicorn opened her wings and struggled to steady herself as the hurricane, otherwise known as Pinkie Pie, came to a skidding halt outside the library door.

"Twilight!" The pony screeched at the top of her lungs, still pointed at the library. "Twilight, do you have any cake batter?"

Twilight sighed. _This_ was the big emergency? A shortage of cake batter?

"Over here, Pinkie." The pink pony whirled around, a grin erupting on her face.

"Oh, hey Twilight. I didn't see you there. You see, I was over at Sweet Apple Acres helping Applejack make some apple pies. And we were looking outside her window at all the birds making their nests in the trees by her house. And all of a sudden, we saw somepony walking through the orchard, Applejack thought that was weird because ponies from Ponyville don't normally walk through the orchard, so then I figured it _must_ be somepony new, and they just got a little lost. So I was going to welcome them, but then I realized I didn't have any cake, and I can't welcome somepony to Ponyville if I don't have a cake to put in my cake cannon. So you _have_ to have some cake batter, because then I won't be able to welcome the new pony, and then she'll think we don't want her here and she won't have any friends and then she'll be all lonely and sad FOREVER!"

"Pinkie." Twilight, who had been attempting to interrupt her friend for the past few minutes, finally was able to get a word in. "You live in a bakery. Surely the Cakes have some batter you could use. Or you could make some of your own. Did you _think_ about asking them before rushing over here?"

Pinkie took a deep breath and Twilight almost wished she hadn't asked. "I _did_ think about going over there, Twilight, but then I remembered it's naptime for Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake. So then I figured I'd be super quiet, but the last time I was super quiet during nap time, I accidentally knocked over a stack of dishes into the sink and all the clanging and clattering woke them up. Mrs. Cake asked me to run a few errands for her while they were napping, and one of the errands took me over to Sweet Apple Acres. I ran into Apple Bloom there and she said today was pie making day. And I absolutely _love_ making pies, so I figured I'd stop by and help and – "

"That's where you and Applejack noticed the new pony," Twilight cut in, unable to bear her friend's chattering any longer. "Sorry Pinkie, but I don't have any cake batter here. Only a couple of daisy sandwiches Spike made."

Both ponies turned around as another familiar voice caught their attention. Applejack was making her way up the dirt road toward the two of them. The orange pony was panting and sweating quite a bit, her hat flopping to one side of her head. Twilight wondered for a second if there _was_ really something going on the ponies of Ponyville needed her help with. Surely Pinkie would have thought to mention that first, right?

"Everything alright?" Twilight called out as the farm pony stopped to catch her breath.

"Yup. Sure is. I just followed Pinkie Pie over here to help her look for some cake. I reckon she's a bit faster than I am."

Twilight shook her head. Applejack was a fast pony. She had seen evidence of that in the Running of the Leaves every fall. But for some reason, nopony – not even Rainbow Dash – could keep up with Pinkie Pie on a mission.

"A bit…" Twilight trailed off and glanced over at Pinkie, who was now peering through the window, as if Twilight was purposefully hiding the cake batter from her. "But as I already told Pinkie, I don't have any ca – "

CRASH! Applejack and Twilight leapt up into the air as a mass of blue feathers crashed into the ground beside them. The alicorn opened up her wings and lightly began fanning the cloud of dust away. When the air cleared around them once more, she saw Rainbow lying in a heap on the ground, a dazed look on her face.

"Oh dear," the soft voice of Fluttershy said from above them. "Rainbow Dash, are you alright?"

"Just fine…" The pegasus managed to get out as she struggled to her feet. "Took that turn a liiiitttle bit too fast. I'll give it another go in just a sec."

"But you could hurt yourself," the yellow pony protested. "You should rest up a while before you try that trick again. Let me look at your wings to make sure you didn't injure yourself."

Rainbow Dash huffed and plopped her head into her front hooves, stretching her wings out for Fluttershy to examine. "I think I would have noticed if I injured my wings."

"What were you two doing up there?" Twilight asked, glancing upward at the sky. A lone cloud hovered above them in an otherwise clear blue sky.

"I was practicing some of my moves on that cloud," Rainbow explained. "Took one of the turns too fast and spun out of control. Fluttershy was helping."

Twilight raised an eyebrow at her quiet friend. "Helping?"

"Oh," the shy voice murmured as Fluttershy stepped away from Rainbow Dash. Her long pink hair fell to cover one of her turquoise eyes, and Twilight had to strain to hear her. "Not helping really, just keeping some of the younger ponies out of the sky so they wouldn't get run over."

A smile graced the purple alicorn's face. "That was awfully nice of you."

Fluttershy echoed Twilight's smile as Rainbow stood up and pointed a hoof in Pinkie's direction. "What's she _doing?_ "

Funny. Twilight had almost forgotten Pinkie was there. Almost. "Pinkie is looking in the library for some cake batter."

Applejack shook her head gently and Fluttershy smiled. Rainbow Dash simply looked confused. "Why? Doesn't she know that cake batter is found at bakeries, and books are found in the library?"

"One would think."

At that moment the door opened and a small purple and green dragon peered his head out. "Did you fix the disaster already?"

"What disaster?" Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash asked at the same time Twilight responded with "false alarm." She blushed and turned toward her friends. "Pinkie was asking for me this morning. She sounded so frantic, I thought there was some kind of emergency."

"There _was_ an emergency, Twilight," Pinkie said as she tore her eyes away from the library window. "How can I give the new pony the traditional welcome to Ponyville without any cake?"

Twilight shook her head. They were getting nowhere with this cake dilemma. Normally, she didn't mind giving up an afternoon to help a friend in need, but this morning she had been preparing for tomorrow's Twilight Time lesson with Sweetie Bell, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo. She didn't want to give that up for missing cake batter.

"Did you try saying 'Hello'?" Rainbow Dashed asked, stretching her wings out. "Most ponies prefer a simple greeting over an explosion of cake and streamers. Although I would never say no to some cake."

Shaking her head once more, Twilight turned to her faithful sidekick as Pinkie and Rainbow Dash began discussing the best way to welcome a new pony, with Applejack chiming in every once in a while. "Want to make some more sandwiches? We could all eat together now that everypony's here."

"Wait," the young dragon protested. "Where's Rarity?"

Naturally her oldest friend would notice the absence of the beautiful fashionista. "Probably at her boutique. Make an extra for her and we'll all go over and have lunch at Rarity's. How does that sound?"

The dragon beamed, and Twilight could almost see little pink hearts floating around his head. She chuckled to herself and turned back to her friends. Somehow they had gone from discussing welcoming tactics to telling stories of the best desserts they'd ever had. Applejack was currently describing a caramel apple cobbler her cousin Apple Fritter had made at one of their family reunions.

A deep rumble emerged from Twilight's stomach. She blushed again and placed a hoof on her lower abdomen to soothe it.

"AJ," Rainbow complained, "you're making me hungry with all of this dessert talk…"

Twilight had to agree. She was quite hungry. "Spike's in the kitchen making some extra sandwiches. I thought we could all go over to Rarity's and have lunch together."

"Rarity!" Pinkie exclaimed, shooting several feet in the air. "Rarity might have some cake batter!"

And with that she was gone. Twilight didn't realize she was staring open-mouthed at the place Pinkie had been until AJ reached over and closed it for her. The alicorn still didn't understand _how_ that pony could move so fast.

"We'd better go on and catch up with her," Applejack sighed. "Come on Dash."

The blue Pegasus was already in the air. In the blink of an eye, she was gone. Applejack reared up on her hind legs and galloped after her two friends. "See you over at Rarity's!" She called over her shoulder as the mare disappeared behind one of the buildings across from the library.

For a moment, Twilight stood outside the library next to Fluttershy wondering how it was her friends came and went so fast. Then she shrugged and smiled to herself, turning toward the library door.

"Shall we go inside and give Spike a hand?"

Fluttershy giggled softly, her eyes lighting up just a bit. "That sounds like a wonderful idea."

Together, the two mares entered the building to begin what was sure to be a wonderful day.

* * *

Today was turning out to be a horrible day.

Rarity's alarm hadn't gone off, causing her to sleep in way past the time she normally woke up. She had to rush through her morning routine, so her mane had been a mess when she arrived at the train station to pick up her new shipment of fabrics. And now, she was furiously working on costumes for Sweetie Bell's class at school, and everything was wrong!

"It's a _disaster,_ Opal _,_ " Rarity moaned to the unimpressed cat. "A complete disaster!"

When she had been approached a few weeks ago by her younger sister, Rarity had happily agreed to help with the costumes. Their spring play, she could never remember the name, seemed like the perfect change for Rarity. She had been focused for so long on creating fancy outfits for the upcoming gala, she had grown tired of designing. Sweetie's play had been the perfect excuse for her to spend some time creating something fun instead.

She had been sorely mistaken. "Everything is completely wrong, Opalescence." The white pony paced across her floor, examining her latest creations. "The wings won't stay up at the right angle and the beading patterns look absolutely ridiculous. I don't know _what_ I was thinking. No, this simply will not do. I'll have to start all over again."

A halo of blue magic encircled the clothing and levitated them over to the large hamper Rarity had set up in the corner of her room in the common and rather unfortunate event that she would need to scrap an entire project.

"Oh, don't worry," she explained as the fluffy white cat blinked her eyes and yawned. "I'm not throwing it away. That would be such a waste. I'll go through these pieces and salvage what I can later. But for now, I think I need to go back to the drawing board."

Rarity winced as a loud bang sounded from her front door. "Honestly," she huffed, "I know Applejack was raised in a barn, but one would think the other ponies here in Ponyville would have learned some proper manners."

"RARITY!" The pony stopped in her advance the moment an all too familiar voice reached her ears. She surely hoped some of her other friends were on the other side of the door besides Pinkie Pie. Rarity loved the energetic pony to pieces, but she wasn't sure she was mentally prepared to handle Pinkie on her own.

"Hang on one moment darling," she called as she magically swept her most valuable materials into their proper cabinets and drawers. "Just straightening up a bit."

Heaving a sigh, and realizing there was nothing left to clean up, Rarity opened the door of her shop to see Pinkie waiting patiently with an out of breath Applejack and Rainbow Dash by her side.

"Can I help you…?" The white pony was very puzzled. What in Celestia's name were they all doing here?

"Rarity, pleeeeaaaassseeeee tell me you have some cake batter." The pink pony was down on her knees, looking up at Rarity with wide blue eyes. "It's an emergency."

"An…emergency?" Rarity could hardly see how cake batter could be thought of any sort of emergency, but her friend looked simply distraught. What kind of friend would she be if she didn't help?

"Well, I don't have any cake batter, per se. But I'm sure if you went into the kitchen, you could find all the ingredients to – "

In an instant, Pinkie was gone. Rarity thought she had seen a pink streak whiz by her, but it could have been just a trick of the light. Shaking her head, the pony turned back to her winded friends still collapsed on her doorstep.

"-make some," she finished. "Would you two like to come in?"

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash heaved. Applejack simply nodded her head. Rarity turned around and entered the building once more, her exhausted friends following close behind.

"Twilight…Spike and Fluttershy…are on their way…with lunch…" Applejack heaved, still trying to catch her breath.

Rarity's eyes lit up as she took a seat on her favorite love seat. "Lovely, absolutely lovely," she gushed. "Oh, we haven't had lunch together in _ages_. We're far overdue. What time did you say they were coming? I could set out some drinks on the picnic table out back. That way, we'd be prepared to eat by the time they arrived."

Hopping up from her seat, Rarity trotted over toward the kitchen, pausing only when she heard Rainbow's voice from behind her.

"You _might_ not want to go in there just yet." She turned, raising an eyebrow at the two mares passed out on the floor of her boutique. "Pinkie Pie's still in there."

"No worries girls," the pink mare responded, bouncing across the floor toward them, a completely baked and iced cake perched neatly on top of her head. "I'm all done. I cleaned up too, Rarity. Left everything squeaky clean."

In a fraction of a second, Rarity was in the center of her kitchen, looking everything up and down. It wasn't that she didn't _trust_ Pinkie Pie. Of course she did. She simply equated the words "cleaned up for you" to "destroyed" in her mind, thanks to her sister.

Yet, Pinkie had been true to her word. The entire kitchen was sparkling. And when Rarity dragged a perfectly manicured hoof across the counter, a small squeak reached her ears.

"Well, I'll be…" the mare murmured.

Upon returning to the other room, Rarity was met with an angry Rainbow Dash and a plum-tuckered out Applejack.

"How does she _do_ that?" Rainbow was asking, blue hoof pointing at the empty door Rarity assumed Pinkie Pie had just left through. "We were literally here for less than three minutes. That defies the laws of nature!"

"Oh calm down, sugar cube," Applejack responded. "This is Pinkie here we're talking about."

"Yeah," Rainbow protested, "but still."

"What did Pinkie want with the cake, anyway?" Normally, Rarity hated to interrupt. She would never be caught doing something so unladylike. But she was curious. She'd never known the party pony to be short on cake in all her days living in Ponyville.

"Pinkie and I spotted a new pony headin' toward Ponyville earlier this morning," Applejack explained, finally able to catch her breath. "Pinkie realized she didn't have a cake for her cake cannon and went a little off her rocker looking for some."

"Ahh." Rarity could understand that. Pinkie was very…particular with her welcomes. "I see."

The three were silent for a moment, each absorbed in her own thoughts. Rarity wondered who this new pony was. Sure, many ponies traveled through Ponyville. Many didn't stay for more than a night or two before continuing on to their next destination. Was this pony traveling through as well? Or would she be staying for longer? They hadn't had a new pony move into town since Twilight had arrived several years ago. Not that it mattered to Rarity what this pony was here for. She was quite happy the way things were now, thank you very much. Still…it never hurt to make a new friend…

"I'll go get those drinks," she said, pulling the other two mares out of their thoughts as well. "You dears go outside and wait for the others."

Rainbow and Applejack nodded their heads and stood up, racing each other to the front door. Rarity scowled in their direction. Why couldn't they walk like normal, civilized ponies?

By the time Rarity arrived with the drinks, everypony, with the exception of Pinkie Pie, was waiting for her.

"There you are, Rarity," Twilight greeted warmly. "And you brought drinks, great. Is Pinkie on her way?"

"She's on her way to something, that's for sure," Rainbow Dash muttered, still obviously upset at Pinkie's mystifying cake baking skills.

"Pinkie Pie has already come and gone, I'm afraid," Rarity responded, setting the drinks down on the table beside them.

"You didn't have any cake batter either?" Fluttershy's concerned voice floated over to her.

"Oh no," Rarity corrected her friend. "I had plenty. Well, plenty of ingredients anyway. Pinkie already finished her cake. I'd imagine she's venturing out to find the new pony as we speak."

"I recon she's already found her," Applejack murmured as Twilight shook her head in amazement.

"There's no way," Dash argued. "She can't have found her already. You two didn't even know where this new pony was _going_."

"Ha!" Applejack laughed, hoof pointing down the road. "You should know by now, Rainbow, that's never stopped our Pinkie Pie."

All five heads turned to look where Applejack was pointing. Two ponies were making their way toward the boutique, one bouncing up and down, chattering away as they went. The other lagging behind, a slight limp in her step, silent as bird in wintertime.

"Oh no," Spike moaned, face slamming against the table. "I only made enough food for one dragon and _six_ ponies…"

The five mares laughed as Rarity took a seat next to her favorite dragon. If they ran out, she could always go inside and make more. Running her hoof under her hair, she gave it one last flip before putting on her best smile. Time to meet Pinkie's new friend.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing that is MLP. This story is simply for fun.**

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Chapter 2:

Sky Dancer was completely lost.

When she had left Las Pegasus earlier that week, she had thought finding Ponyville would be a simple task. It was a quaint town underneath the ever watchful eye of Canterlot. The young mare had heard much about the small town, and once she had finished the endless months of physical therapy after her accident, she had decided it would be the perfect place to spend an extended vacation. She needed time and space to clear her head and figure out what she wanted to do with her life now that…

Shaking her head furiously, Sky Dancer pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind. To her credit, the pony had technically _found_ Ponyville. All she had to do was get on the right train and she was promised to arrive in the small town. It was once she got off the train that the pony started having issues.

Ponyville was much bigger than she had thought. She had gotten off the train, nothing but a cloak strapped to her back and a pouch of money tied around her waist. Her first task was supposed to be finding herself a place to stay for the night while she figured out a more permanent situation. She figured she had plenty of time before sundown and had decided to wander for a while. Unfortunately, she had made the mistake of letting her mind wander as her hooves did and somehow ended up in the middle of an apple orchard, with nopony in sight to point her in the right direction.

"Way to go Sky," she scolded herself. "It's been less than an hour and you've already lost yourself."

There was only one thing left to do. The pony turned to face the direction she had thought she had come and began walking. Surely, if she kept going, she would run into somepony somewhere who could tell her how to reach her destination.

So, Sky continued to walk. Even when the twinging in her back left leg resurfaced, the mare kept going. She didn't have any other options. Until she spotted Ponyville, or somepony who knew where it was, she would keep walking.

"What I wouldn't give for a set of wings," she muttered, glancing up through the trees with leaves that weren't quite full.

"Then again," she noted, bright green eyes watching a blue pegasus hurtle out of the sky and toward the ground below, "maybe not." She hoped the pony was ok. But, in a way, Sky was glad she had fallen out of the sky. The other, yellow pony had quickly flown after her. Even if they weren't near Ponyville, they might be able to help her find her way.

So, with renewed purpose, Sky trotted off through the trees toward where she had last seen the two pegasi. She was able to move relatively quickly, so long as her injured leg remained off the ground. After a while of keeping it in one place, it began to cramp up and Sky was forced to let it down and slow her pace.

Though she could no longer see the two pegasi from earlier, Sky had stumbled across a path that she was sure led to the town. Glancing behind her, the mare noticed a big red barn in the distance. "It must belong to the ponies who own all the apple trees," she concluded, turning back the other way. "Which means Ponyville is this way."

Feeling slightly better about her situation, Sky headed off in the direction of the town. Still no sight of the pony that had crashed, or her companion, but that didn't bother the mare too much. She had other things to worry about.

As she limped over the next hill, Sky stopped for a moment, letting a small smile grace her face. There it was – Ponyville – nestled between the Everfree Forest and the looming mountains that were home to the royal city of Canterlot. She had finally made it.

Slowly, the pony made her way down the hill and entered the town limits. She passed several normal looking buildings as well as some not-so-normal ones. Sky's favorite so far had to be the library built within a tree. She had almost stopped by just to see it, but had been deterred by a sign that said 'out to lunch' nailed to the front door. Maybe once she had found a place to settle in, she would come back.

What she needed to find was an inn of some sort. A place where she could stay for a few days while she looked for a job and a room of her own. Sky would be remaining for quite some time and she wanted to feel at home during her stay, but as she roamed the streets, nothing popped out at her. She had expected to see some sort of neon sign pointing her in the right direction. In Las Pegasus, a pony couldn't walk one mile without seeing signs for at least four hotels. Naturally, Ponyville wouldn't have as high a demand, but surely they had somewhere for travelers to stay.

Sky had been focusing so much on the buildings around her that she almost plowed into the pony in front of her. She halted just in time to find herself practically nose to nose with a pair of wide blue eyes attached to a pony with a curly pink mane and equally pink coat.

"Hiya!" the pony said, flashing a wide smile at Sky. "My name's Pinkie Pie and I am your official 'Welcome to Ponyville' welcoming committee."

The new pony paused. "You…are?" she asked finally, taking a small step back from the overly friendly mare before her.

"You bet! And let me tell you, it hasn't been easy. I saw you earlier over by Sweet Apple Acres and I was going to welcome you then, but I realized I didn't have everything I needed so I went on this huge quest that took me all over town, well actually mostly just to Twilight and Rarity's house, but I found everything and now I found you, so I'm ready to welcome you!"

Sky opened her mouth to thank the pony, and explain that a welcome wasn't necessary. All she wanted was a nice bed to sleep in for the night when out of nowhere, a large pink cannon appeared with balloons and streamers attached to every empty space on it.

 _"_ _Welcome welcome welcome  
A fine welcome to you  
Welcome welcome welcome  
I say how do you do?  
Welcome welcome welcome  
I say hip hip hurray  
Welcome welcome welcome  
To Ponyville today!"_

At the end of the pink pony's song, the contraption erupted with confetti and streamers that landed all over Sky's cloak and in her mane. Shaking her head, she attempted to loosen the colorful bits of paper, but it was no use. They were stuck to her ink black mane.

"I made you a cake too!" the pony exclaimed as the cannon exploded once more and a light blue frosted cake with rainbow sprinkles on top flew up into the air, then landed in the pony's outstretched hooves. "I even iced it to match your coat."

She had to hand it to the pony. The cake looked delicious, and the sky blue color matched her coat perfectly. "Thank you…" she trailed off, forgetting what the pony had said her name was.

"Pinkie Pie," she supplied passing Sky the cake. "What's your name?"

"Sky," the light coated pony replied, attempting to balance the cake in her hooves.

"Huh," Pinkie mused. "That's a funny name. I like it! Hey!" she started before Sky could get a word in otherwise. "My friends and I are all having lunch at Rarity's boutique. You wanna come eat with us? I'm sure they'd love love love to meet you!"

"Sure," Sky responded, hoping she wouldn't regret her decision. Surely Pinkie's friends couldn't all be as….eccentric as her, right? She would go have lunch and meet the other ponies, and maybe then she could find a place to stay so she could begin the next part of her journey.

* * *

Sky hobbled along the road at a leisurely pace as Pinkie Pie bounced in circles around her. She was currently chatting on about the friends they were about to go meet. "One year," she was saying, eyes shut tight, a smile plastered to her face. It was a wonder she didn't run into anything. "Rarity made gowns for all six of us for the Grand Galloping Gala. Mine was poufy and pink and had candy on it! I love candy, almost as much as I like parties. That's my special talent you know, throwing parties and making ponies laugh. Oh! And Fluttershy's dress was green and had these adorable little butterflies on in. She's really good with animals. This one time, beavers were blocking up the river and flooded part of Sweet Apple Acres, AJ was furious, but she couldn't get them to move. Fluttershy came on over and talked to them, and poof! They moved their home, just like that."

"That sounds great, Pinkie Pie," Sky spoke up. "Are we getting close? I think I've been walking around too much. I need to rest."

"Yup!" Pinkie cheered, gesturing with her hoof to a rather unique looking building. It was two stories tall, with the appearance of a carousal mixed with a small castle. "They're right there!"

Still not understanding how Pinkie could possibly know they were here with her eyes still shut tightly, Sky shook her head. Perhaps it was better not to ask. She turned her attention to the ponies sitting in the yard outside the carousal castle. They were busy chatting away with each other, all but the orange one. That pony was currently looking in her direction, a hoof pointed straight at the pair making their way down the street.

Heat flooded Sky's cheeks as she noticed all the other ponies turn to look in her direction. She gave them a hesitant smile as, finally, she and Pinkie Pie entered the yard.

"You guys, this is my new friend Sky. Sky, this is Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Princess Twilight Sparkle."

Sky's ears perked up at that. "Princess?" Of course, she had heard about the new edition to Canterlot Royalty. But she never would have believed a princess would live here in Ponyville.

"Pinkie…" the purple alicorn scolded. Sighing, she turned toward Sky. "Just plain Twilight is fine."

"Nice to meet you all," Sky responded, glancing down at the table. She wasn't sure exactly what to do as Pinkie Pie took a seat at the head of the table. It was then that the pony noticed a small scaly purple creature sitting on the grass besides the yellow Pegasus.

"Pinkie," Sky began, "You didn't tell me you were friends with a dragon."

At this, the dragon's head perked up. "Aww, Pinkie Pie, you forgot about me?"

"No way, Spike!" the pink pony protested. "I would never ever ever forget a friend like you. I just ran out of time to tell her about all our fun adventures. I really only mentioned Rarity and Fluttershy on the way here."

"What?" Sky turned to see the blue Pegasus with a rainbow colored mane leap up into the air. "You didn't tell her about me? Rainbow Dash? The greatest flier in all of Equestria!"

Sky tilted her head to one side, finally realizing that she had seen this pony somewhere before. "Weren't you the one who fell out of the sky this morning?"

At this, Rainbow Dash slowly sank back to her seat. "That was a one-time thing. You'll see. I'm actually a pro flyer."

"So tell us, Sky," Twilight began as the young dragon, Spike, began passing out plates of sandwiches. "What brings you to Ponyville?"

The mare's green eyes fell to the ground. "Ah." She knew the question would come up eventually. Still, it brought unpleasant thoughts to the front of her mind. "My doctors back home thought Ponyville would be a good place for me to stay while I waited for my leg to heal," she shifted her cloak slightly to reveal the black brace surrounding the entirety of her back left leg.

"Goodness," the yellow pony spoke, her voice hardly more than a whisper. "What happened?"

"An onstage accident, unfortunately, tale for another time," was Sky's response. She didn't feel quite comfortable telling these ponies her life story yet. "Needless to say, I'm in search of a more permanent place to stay while my leg heals."

"Where onstage were you performing?" the white pony asked, her proper accent catching Sky off guard.

"I was a, uh, dancer. In the Las Pegasus dance company."

The pony's mouth hung open in a very unladylike fashion, showing her true Ponyville roots. Sky couldn't help but smile. "The Las Pegasus dance company? Oh, I've read all about them. All the ponies I've ever spoken to in my time in Canterlot said they were the best. And Gossamer Slippers. Well, she is the _best_ of the best." She gasped as if the most exciting thing had just happened to her. "You don't happen to _know_ Gossamer Slippers, do you?"

Sky Dancer _did_ in fact know Gossamer. Though, she'd rather not think of that particular pony ever again. "Not really," she responded, watching as the white pony's face fell. "I mean, I do know her. But I doubt she would know me. I was just one of the chorus dancers. No one special."

"That's too bad, darling," the pony sighed, flipping her perfectly styled mane to one side of her face. "I would have loved to have met her. Once you were better, naturally. I wouldn't dream of doing _anything_ to hinder your recovery process."

"Speaking of recovery," Twilight interrupted. Sky turned to look at the princess as she spoke. "Sky, you said you were looking for a more permanent place to stay? I'm certain we could help you find somewhere if we put our heads together."

Sky opened her mouth to thank the royal, grateful to have met such kind ponies on her first day in Ponyville, but was cut off by Rainbow Dash before she could utter a single word.

"You don't happen to have a pair of wings under that cloak, do you?" The tomboyish pony asked, flapping her own in demonstration. "'cause if you do, you can totally stay with me."

"Sorry," the pony murmured apologetically. "Just a simple earth pony here."

"Oh horseshoes," Applejack protested. "There a'int nothing simple about us earth ponies. We're a hardworking, dedicated breed. Why, if you stay with me, I could show ya around the farm. Then you'll see what us earth ponies can really do."

"Nonsense," the fancy white pony cut in. "In case you've forgotten, Applejack, our new friend here has an injury. The last thing she needs is to be put to work on that farm of yours." The pony turned toward Sky, who was currently waiting for the conversation to die down. "You'll be staying with me, darling. I have an extra bedroom upstairs where my younger sister Sweetie Belle sleeps during her stays here. I'm sure that if she needed to stay here, she'd be more than happy to spend the night with me. As long as that's alright with you. It _is_ alright, isn't it?"

Sky was taken aback by the pony's generosity. "Y-yes." She stammered. "That would be wonderful. Thank you."

"Don't think another thing of it, darling," the white pony responded, giving Sky a smile. "Now Spike, where are those sandwiches? I'm famished."

The new pony couldn't help but laugh along with the others. This day had turned out much better than she had hoped. She had found a place to stay, and had been so quickly accepted into Princess Twilight's circle of friends. Things were starting to look up.

* * *

A/N: Hello All! So I've had this idea for a while now and decided to give it a go. For now, I have the first handful of chapters already written, but will be spacing out their postings to give myself time to write some more. In the meantime, feel free to review what I have up here and let me know what you think! Please and thank you :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is MLP. I am simply a fan telling a story.**

* * *

The sun was falling low in the sky when Princess Luna emerged from her room. The guards posted outside her door bowed low as she passed, and the dark blue mare nodded her head in greeting. It had been several years since she had escaped from the moon. Several years since Twilight Sparkle and her friends had freed her from the jealousy and greed that had become her master. Several years since she had shed the name Nightmare Moon and become Luna once more. And still, Luna felt that many of the ponies in Canterlot – many of the ponies in all of Equestria – still saw her as the power hungry monster that she had once been.

Slowly, the princess of the night made her way to the watch tower where Celestia was sure to be, unless she had other duties to perform that evening. It was the place where every night, Luna took her position and raised the moon, so all the ponies across their great land could sleep in peace, knowing there was light to guard them, and somepony watching over them, as they slept.

"Good evening, sister," Celestia greeted warmly as Luna joined her side. Both mares watched as the sun slowly sank below the mountains to the west. "Or should I say good morning?"

Luna smiled quietly at her elder sister, but the truth of her words stung. One of the burdens of being the guardian of the night required the alicorn to catch up on sleep during the hours of daylight. She often missed out on much of the day to day lives of her subjects, and that fact alone caused her much heartache. But as a princess, she had duties she must perform. She wouldn't let Celestia, or the citizens of Equestria down ever again.

"Good evening," Luna responded, her horn lighting up as she effortlessly lifted the moon into the sky. "I hope all is well."

"Yes, indeed," Celestia murmured, touching her horn to Luna's shoulder for a moment. The younger alicorn leaned into her older sister, relishing in the rare contact. "Peace is wonderful to see in action. Not a sign of trouble across the entire kingdom. All is well indeed."

"That is good to hear." Luna nodded a goodbye to Celestia as the older princess made her way back to the center of the castle. No doubt to her own bedroom. Even the lead ruler of Equestria needed her sleep.

Turning her attention to the mountains in the west, Luna began her vigil. Her eyes remaining wide open, scanning the skies and ground for any signs of trouble, despite the weariness she felt. For the past moon or so, Luna had been sleeping rather fitfully. When she was first returned to her body, her nightmares had been plagued with images of Nightmare Moon, of herself. Plunging the world into darkness, and attacking her only sister. Celestia comforted her many days, assuring the young alicorn that the horrid visions would go away.

With time, they did. No longer were Luna's days haunted with the images of a past she longed to forget. Now, her dreams were filled with a past she was just beginning to remember. A time before her thoughts of hatred and jealously emerged. It was if every time she slept, she relived moments of her past – her childhood. The friends she made, the memories of life before becoming a princess. All were gone now. Not a single pony, apart from Celestia, still remained from her time as a filly. How could they? She and Celestia were the only two immortal ponies in all of Equestria. Nopony could ever hope to live as long as she. But that fact didn't prevent Luna from remembering.

* * *

 _Luna's earliest memory was of Celestia, curled up at her side, singing her to sleep. They were deep underground, in some sort of cave, with torches all around giving off a warm orange glow. The infant Luna was crying. She knew it was time for everypony to sleep, and though she could not see the sky, she also knew the moon was currently rising over the hilltops._

 _She could never explain how she knew what the outside world looked like. Her entire childhood took place in a series of underground caverns. The world above was chaotic, according to her parents. Discord ruled all of Equestria. Chocolate milk fell from pink, cotton candy clouds. Fish swam through the air. Trees floated upside-down in the air. And while the young filly didn't know what chocolate milk or cotton candy was, she didn't think it sounded all that bad._

 _The young Luna didn't want to sleep. The moon was rising, and she was awake. She wanted to venture outside, to the world above them._

 _It was important for them to stay hidden, Celestia always said, echoing their parents, whenever Luna asked why they could never see 'outside'. If they ventured outside now, Discord would find them, and then there would be no hope for the ponies of Equestria._

 _"_ _We are destined to save them, Luna," Celestia would tell her every night as she rocked the young filly to sleep. "But not just yet. We have to grow up big and strong first, and for that you need sleep."_

 _Luna and Celestia were different from the other ponies. There were many ponies hiding below ground from Discord. Ponies of many different talents. There were earth ponies, and unicorns, and pegasi families from all across Equestria that had made their way here once Discord had assumed the throne. But none were quite like the two sisters. They were alicorns._

 _And not just any type of alicorn. A special pony, who proved themselves to be kind and compassionate, loyal and wise, brave and just, had the ability within them to become an alicorn, if they chose goodness and showed themselves to be a leader in the face of adversity. Luna and Celestia were an even rarer breed. These sisters were born alicorns. The only two in the entire history of Equestria._

 _Their mother had known they were destined for greatness the moment Celestia had been born. She and their father had fled their home and retreated underground with the day old alicorn the moment they could. Hope had finally entered the world, and they would do whatever it took to keep that hope alive._

 _Then Luna was born, and that spark of hope turned into a bright, burning flame. Two alicorns, born of the same bloodline. Their power would be unmatched, so long as they grew up with goodness in their hearts, and the knowledge that someday, they would be benevolent rulers of Equestria._

 _Moons came and went, and Luna found it as difficult as ever to sleep when everyone else laid down their heads. She learned to subdue her energy and redirect it to more productive tasks. As soon as she was old enough, Luna took a position with the night watchponies, as a junior assistant. Her parents were hesitant at first. They didn't like the idea of her being so far away – so close to the surface. But Luna was insistent, and the other ponies promised she would be safe._

 _It was there, during the night watch, that Luna made her first friend. She was standing alert, mirroring the rigid stance of the other watchponies, her eyes fixed on the ground below. They were up on a cliff embedded in the wall of a large cavern. It was the only place that Luna had seen so far where the moonlight filtered in through the rooftop. Blue Armor, the self-appointed captain of their watch team, said the hole had been covered up with various shrubs and rocks found on the mountainside, but a little space had been left so the ponies underneath could see at night._

 _Luna's job, along with the other watchponies, was to look out for anypony up after curfew. They had certain rules in effect for reason, to protect the ponies that sought refuge from the chaotic world above. No one was to be out of bed after the moon rose a quarter way into the sky. The watchponies made sure to enforce that rule, and to keep a close eye on the entrance way, in case it was discovered by someone on the outside._

 _One particular night, Luna was at her post, scanning the cavern floor for anypony breaking curfew when she spotted a tiny light emerging from one of the passageways. She glanced over at Blue Armor, who had spotted the light as well. It was traveling closer, followed by the clip-clopping of a pair of hooves._

 _"_ _Who is that," one of the watchponies whispered as the guilty pony came into view. "I can't tell."_

 _"_ _Garnet, is that your son?"_

 _Luna turned her head and saw the broad unicorn nod his head slowly, "I'll go speak with him." Garnet made a move to jump down from the ledge, but Blue Armor stuck a hoof out to prevent him._

 _"_ _Go ahead," he murmured to Luna, whose eyes widened in surprise. They were trusting her with her very own mission? "You're ready. Just remember what we told you."_

 _The young alicorn nodded vigorously and scurried to the edge of the ledge. The young unicorn colt was still there, a soft blue glow radiating from his horn. Luna crouched. She could feel some of the adults shift instinctively toward her, but the young filly was already high in the air._

 _Granted, the ledge wasn't terribly high off the ground. Luna most likely could have jumped off and landed on the ground, only slightly hurting her legs. But Luna was an alicorn. And though she had never used them until that night, Luna had wings. Instinctively, she spread them wide, blocking out a section of the moonlight. The young unicorn looked up in shock as her shadow passed over him. He squeaked in alarm and backed up a few steps as the dark coated filly glided through the air and landed without a sound by his side._

 _"_ _What are you doing out here?" the alicorn hissed, an attempt to keep her voice down. "Don't you know it's past curfew?"_

 _"_ _Don't you know it's past curfew?" the unicorn shot back, without missing a beat. Luna stared into his light green eyes for a moment, puzzled by his reaction. She hadn't met many ponies her age living in the caverns, and those that she did meet seemed to be quite frightened of her._

 _"_ _Of course I know," she retorted, giving a slight huff. "I'm part of the night-watch. And you're not. I'm rep-ri-man-ding you." Luna beamed, happy to have used the new word Celestia had taught her earlier that week as they watched a young Pegasus being scolded by her mother for flying too high._

 _"_ _You can't do that!" the colt argued, angry that she was seemingly smarter than him. "You're just a filly, barely older than I am."_

 _"_ _So?" the filly shot back, then caught herself. She would not stoop to his level. What would Celestia say at a time like this? "The moon has already traveled halfway across the sky," she pointed out, her voice lowering significantly. "We don't want Discord to find us, so we have to be quiet and stay out of sight."_

 _The young unicorn glanced over at the adults, silently watching the pair. "Ok," he said finally, turning his bright eyes back to Luna. "I'm sorry."_

 _Luna smiled at him, and the colt smiled back. "You should come visit sometime," he said, flicking his grey ears forward. "I live down that way." The alicorn's eyes traveled down the path from which he had come._

 _"_ _Ok," she agreed. Other than her parents and Celestia, Luna hadn't had much interaction with anypony that lived down in the caves. "I'll come find you when I wake up in the morning."_

 _The young unicorn beamed, and Luna felt a strange feeling stirring in her heart. "Look daddy!" he whispered excitedly, bouncing over to the older unicorn, who had returned to the ground floor. "I made a new friend."_

 _"_ _That you did, my son. That you did."_

Princess Luna blinked her eyes, and slowly her mind returned to the present. It hadn't appeared that much time had passes, but Luna knew. She had always known what time it was, thanks to her strong connection with the moon. She had been lost in her memories for a little less than an hour, but it was an hour she should have been watching over her kingdom. The alicorn princess knew better than to let her thoughts control her in such a way. She swore to herself, it wouldn't happen again.

Or, at least she hoped not.


End file.
